


Coffee Klatsch

by taliahale



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Diners, Episode Tag, Episode: s04e02 117, Everyone Thinks They're Together, Gen, Missing Scene, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-07 00:26:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1878126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taliahale/pseuds/taliahale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes it's nice to just be John.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee Klatsch

Siskiyou Diner sits on a scrubby patch of land a few hundred yards from where I-5 meets Route 273. It’s just far enough out of Beacon Proper that Sheriff Stilinski can usually sit down for a meal without being recognized. The regulars nod and politely ignore his rumpled uniform and the cruiser parked out front.

Sometimes it’s nice to just be John.

“Evening.” Callie Bekkattla walks up to his booth, smiling as she flips over his chipped coffee mug and fills it from the orange-topped pot in her hand.

“The kid got to you, finally?” John sighs, but takes a long sip of his decaf.

“Be happy I didn’t tell him about the amount of grease you ingest here.” Callie laughs and sets the pot on his table. “He means well, which is more than you can say for most guys his age. Even pretended to be interested in the campus before his incredibly subtle segue into your dietary restrictions.”

“Subtle as a flying brick, my son.” John shakes his head, sinking against the booth cushions as the tension starts to fall from his shoulders. “How’s that criminology class going?”

“Good. Really good, actually. I got an A on my last test. Thanks for the lending me the Bales book. It was a lot of help on the policy section.” Her eyes dart past him when the bell over the diner door trills cheerfully. “Ah, company today. I’ll give you guys a few to decide what you want.” She picks up the pot. “Gimme a minute and I’ll grab you the nuclear-powered stuff, Mel.”

“Bless you, Callie,” Melissa says, stifling a yawn with her fist as she drops onto the bench opposite John. “Morning.”

“Not quite.” John smiles. He watches as Melissa tugs a hair tie out of one of her scrub pockets and pulls her curls into a haphazard bun at the nape of her neck. “Have a good day’s sleep?”

“There are some things seniority should eventually grant you, you know?” Melissa scrubs a hand over her face. “Like not working night shifts this often.”

“Amen to that,” Callie says. She deposits a steaming mug in front of Melissa before going to ring up the elderly couple waiting by the register.

“The reality of adult life is a constant disappointment,” John agrees.

Melissa snorts and begins doctoring her coffee. Three little creamer tubs and two packets of sugar later, she asks, “You hear from the boys? I had a text saying they got set up at the grounds fine, but nothing after that.”

“Stiles called yesterday." John scrubs a tired hand through his hair, half-hypnotized by the stirring motion of Melissa's hands over her coffee. "He said they were heading to Ah-Di-Na and not to expect to hear from them. Cell tower near the McCloud River got washed out in the flood a few weeks back.”

“I don’t know how they talked me into agreeing to camping by themselves.” Melissa smiles as Callie walks up with her pad out.

“Your boys were camping on the McCloud River?” Callie frowns slightly.

“Yeah, the Ah-Di-Na campground." John nods. "Walk-in only, no cell service at the moment."

“No any kind of service at the moment,” Callie shakes her head. “My cousin’s a ranger at Shasta-Trinity. The flooding that took out the tower washed out the campgrounds there. Ah-Di-Na’s not going to be open for at least a month. They’re too understaffed for the repairs right now.”

John and Melissa exchange a look. They need some sort of hand signal that indicates when their kids have gotten into supernatural shenanigans and decided the parents don’t need to know.

“Must’ve gotten the name wrong.” John shrugs and flashes Callie his easiest ‘trust me, I’ve got a badge’ grin. “I'll take a bacon cheeseburger, medium, with coleslaw and curly fries. And could I get an ice water?”

“Sure thing.” Callie nods, jotting notes in her precise cursive. “Mel?”

“Three eggs scrambled with cheese and peppers, hashbrowns, um…” Melissa wrinkles her nose, takes a long draw from her coffee and adds, “and maybe some fruit salad and dry rye toast.”

“I love it when I have good eaters.” Callie smirks and tucks her pen back behind one ear. “Be up in a jif.”

“Thanks, Callie.” Melissa smiles at the waitress’s retreating back. In a lowered voice she says, “I will actually kill them if they lied about where they were going.”

“I’m choosing not to worry until tonight when they’re supposed to get home,” John replies, dumping another sugar packet into his decaf. He needs some kind of energy if he’s not going to fall asleep mid-meal. “Then I’ll kill them if they lied.”

“Sound plan.” Melissa nods. Callie comes back with both coffee pots to top them off.

“You know, I just have to say,” Callie says as she finishes pouring, “you guys make a really cute couple.”

“Oh, no--”

“That’s, we’re not--”

“Not a couple.”

Callie raises a skeptical eyebrow. “Sure. Be back with your food in a sec.”

John clears his throat and they both stare into their coffee.

“The boys wouldn’t have gone too far, do you think?” Melissa asks, dumping a fourth creamer into her coffee.

“Nah, probably just misread the Forest Service map.” John shakes his head. “Even Stiles would have trouble getting too lost. It’s not like they could take a wrong turn and wind up in Mexico.”

 


End file.
